VHD-4x2HiFi-Comb

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Attention: The previous model has been discontinued and this new model is here.

Four Major Upgrades / Improvements in the new version: 1. New Remote Control Unit (sharing with the prosumer 4x2 unit) with Improved Flexibility to support Audio EDID modification. (The power button is good ONLY for the prosumer unit.)
2. Audio EDID Change will no longer cause input selection to reset to input 1
3. 3.5mm Headphone Jack Audio output added an amplifier to provide much stronger volume
4. SPDIF Firmware has been updated to provide better and smoother performance

Just as I hopedMay 14, 2010
By Charles BuschmanThis is a very good product. The Amazon description is poorly written, not telling clearly what the product does. Let this review serve as an alternate description.

What I wanted was a switcher-splitter that would allow me to imput my blue-ray player, satellite box and up to two other imputs, and route whatever I put in either to either my 1080p 47-inch monitor or my older 720p 28 inch. I like crisp images, hate blurs and accordingly get distracted abd annoyed by watching low-def content on my big monitor.

I also like to keep a tv-program, like a sport event, on, either muted or with low volume, while watching a movie, so that when something exciting begins to happen on the tv probram I can pause the movie and volume-up the tv program. This product does just what I wanted it to, which the Amazon description does not make clear. Any of the four HDMI inputs, labled 1,2,3 and 4, can be routed to either of the two HDMI outputs, labeled A and B, and the two outputs can simultaneously sport different inputs you select, just as I wanted.

There is also an optical cable audio output so that you can route the audio of whichever of the four inputs you select for HDMI output A to a home-theater amp. The sound still goes out output A. This is great.

There is one negative to this product. It is that the manual is in some language written in characters. I think it is Chinese. But you have to be pretty dumb not to be able to figure out how to work this product without a manual.

20 of 21 found the following review helpful:

Great device for older TV's with only 2 HDMI's AND older receivers with only 1 TOSLINKJan 04, 2011
By Mr. Energy EngineerI just got this and I'm quite pleased.

I had an older HDTV with only 2 HDMI inputs and I wanted a switch with 4 HDMI inputs.

To go a step further, I wanted a switch with a digital optical audio output (i.e. TOSLINK) as well, since my audio receiver only has one TOSLINK input and all 4 of my devices have TOSLINK outputs. I wanted this so that I could route audio from a device, such as Roku or Apple TV, to my audio system without being required to have the TV on. Sometimes I just want to listen to music while working or relaxing.

There were 2 other devices that I saw on Amazon that matched my description of what I wanted. However, one of the devices had an input on the front. I didn't like that choice as I don't want to see a cable coming out the front of a switch in my entertainment center. I like the cables to be behind the switch where they cannot be seen. The other switch option I saw (that I thought met my description) had a picture that showed all the inputs on the back, but the description said there was an input on the front. This was contradictory. Consequently, I did not purchase that product because I could not be sure they were selling the actual item shown in the picture.

I decided to go with this product instead, and so far I am very happy with it.

This product has the HDMI A and TOSLINK outputs on the left side and HDMI B output and HDMI input 1 on the right side. HDMI inputs 2, 3, & 4 are on the back, along with the power input. I can totally work with one of the inputs being on the side, as compared to one being one the front.

This device is of sturdy metal construction and is small enough so that you should find it easy to tuck away somewhere in your entertainment center.

There is a delay of a few seconds when switching the TV off and just routing the audio to the receiver. I consider that no big deal at all. I think the switch is reconfiguring itself for routing audio only versus audio and video. The switch figures it out and everything is fine.

One slight issue is that the red power light on the front is big and bright, but no worries ... I just covered it up with a bit of tape. A future version of this device may consider toning this light down a bit. The yellowish lights for the HDMI's are no problem at all.

I really like that this device has actual buttons on it that you can use to switch the inputs, in addition to the remote control. Those buttons will come in handy for when I inevitably lose the remote control that comes with the device : )

I'm not sure how I would use the output B yet, but that could come in handy one day if I wanted (for example) to route an output to a TV in another room. For example, my entertainment center is on a wall for which on the other side is my garage. If I ever wanted to put a flat panel HDTV in the garage, I could run HDMI wiring through the wall and set it up so that I'm only using one blu-ray player, AppleTV, etc. to feed 2 TV's in two different rooms. That would be cool.

Overall, great device and just what I needed/wanted.

15 of 17 found the following review helpful:

Good value, but has issues with switchingSep 30, 2010
By calonzoThe unit does what it claims. But switching from one device to another sometimes doesn't work. They put a reset button right on front of the unit, which tells me they know there is sometimes a problem. Pressing the reset button solves the problem.

9 of 10 found the following review helpful:

Works - kind of...Oct 02, 2011
By kj
"kjj30"
This little box, barely as big as two packs of cigarettes side by side, is easy to set up and outputs video and audio successfully. It's the switching thats the problem. I have a Roku 2, an Apple TV, and a Verizon Fios STB connected via HDMI, with HDMI out to the TV and optical audio out to the reciever. Although the video switches correctly, the audio almost never does, requiring multiple presses of the audio button on the horrible little remote and switching back and forth between video sources until randomly it decides to correctly extract the audio from the selected HDMI input and spit it out the optical output.

Cheaper than replacing a receiver with one with more HDMI inputs, but frustrating to use and almost certain to be replaced soon with anything else that would work better.

5 of 5 found the following review helpful:

Good video quality, but not user friendly with audioMay 08, 2011
By LilsdadThis product does what it says. The video quality is great. I have a 35 foot cable from my computer to the switch and lose no quality. I have a few issues with this unit though.1. This unit gets VERY HOT during use. I had my ROKU placed on top of it but had to move it as I thought the heat would damage it.2. Every time you switch from one input to another, the audio reverts back to analog, requiring more button pushing. In fact, there seems to be 3 audio settings, no audio, analog, and SPDIF. This is a bad design. If you use the SPDIF (optical audio) out, why would you ever want to switch back? This should have it's own dedicated setting that you can leave set on the audio that you want.3. There is no indicator light to tell you if you are on analog or SPDIF audio. You just don't know. When you tune to a channel that is sending the surround sound signal and you are on analog, you have no way of telling other than hitting the audio button on the remote and testing.4. Don't ever lose the remote if you use the optical audio. There is no way to turn it on without the remote.5. I don't like the long loss of signal when switching. This unit replaces another switching device I was using. (IMPACT component video switch with optical audio) There was zero delay when switching, and no issues when using the optical out, and it didn't heat up. This is why I didn't expect all these switching issues.6. The remote is very weak.